The European Union and the Sahel: the day after
Policy Analysis 1 / 2025 by Angela Meyer, Loïc Simonet & Johannes Späth
Dr.
Loïc Simonet
Research Fellow
Loïc Simonet started his career at the French Defence Ministry in Paris. In 2008, he was appointed Politico-Military Counsellor of the French Permanent Representation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna. In 2013, he joined the Secretariat of the OSCE as Senior External Co-operation Officer, until June 2021. In this capacity, he liaised with the European Union and NATO. In 2021, he joined the Austrian Institute for International Affairs (Oiip) as a Researcher.
His portfolio includes:
- The European Security Architecture (actors, challenges and perspectives)
- The OSCE
- Conventional and Nuclear Arms Control and Disarmament
- ‘Middle Powers’ and their influence on the world order
- Africa and the Sahel region
- Border Walls around the World
Simonet was an Arms Control Negotiation Academy (ACONA) Fellow 2023-2024.
He teaches the theory and practice of International Organizations at the Institute for the International Education of Students (IES Abroad) in Vienna.
He is a first tenor at the Wiener Singverein and a passionate gardener and botanist.
Selected Publications
Security & Arms Control
- 2011. Trois ans après la suspension du Traité sur les forces conventionnelles en Europe par la Fédération de Russie : Retour sur les fondements juridiques d’un acte controversé. Revue générale de droit international public, CXV(1). 157-173.
- 2012. Vingt ans après la signature du traité Ciel ouvert, dix ans après son entrée en vigueur : succès et incertitudes d’un régime emblématique de l’après-Guerre froide. Sécurité globale, 18, Winter 2011-2012. 119-130. https://shs.cairn.info/revue-securite-globale-2011-4-page-119?lang=fr
- Open Skies: successes and uncertainties of an iconic post-Cold War instrument. OSCE Magazine, 1. 18-21. https://www.osce.org/oscc/104038.
- 2012. The OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security after the First Annual Discussion on Its Implementation (11 July 2012): State of Play and Prospects. OSCE Yearbook 2012, 18. 343-360. https://ifsh.de/file-CORE/documents/yearbook/english/12/Simonet-en.pdf
- 2012. L’usage de la force dans le cyberspace et le droit international. Revue Défense Nationale, 751, June. 51-55. https://www.defnat.com/e-RDN/vue-article.php?carticle=10551
- 2012. L’usage de la force dans le cyberspace et le droit international. Annuaire Français de Droit International, LVIII. 117-143. https://www.persee.fr/doc/afdi_0066-3085_2012_num_58_1_4673
- 2014. The Arms Trade Treaty and the OSCE. Security and Human Rights, 25(4). 440-453. https://www.shrmonitor.org/assets/uploads/2022/06/The-Arms-Trade-Treaty-and-the-OSCE-Simonet.pdf
- 2015. Le Traité sur le commerce des armes. Paris: Pedone.- 220 p. https://pedone.info/740/TCA.html
- 2023. How to rebuild Europe’s security architecture?”, Oiip, Trend Report 6. https://www.oiip.ac.at/publikation/how-to-rebuild-europes-security-architecture/
- 2023. Putin’s war in Ukraine: How to get out of it? Oiip, Trend Report 7. https://www.oiip.ac.at/publikation/putins-war-in-ukraine-how-to-get-out-of-it/
- 2023. NATO’s 2022 Strategic Concept. Analysis and implications for Austria. Working Paper 115. https://www.oiip.ac.at/publikation/natos-2022-strategic-concept-analysis-and-implications-for-austria/
- 2023. The technical limits of the EU. Europe’s defense economy as a driving force for strategic autonomy and technological sovereignty. Oiip, Working Paper 117. https://www.oiip.ac.at/publikation/the-technical-limits-of-the-eu-europes-defense-economy-as-a-driving-force-for-strategic-autonomy-and-technological-sovereignty/
- 2023. The third EU-NATO joint declaration (10 January 2023): Was it worth the delay? Oiip, Policy Analysis 3. https://www.oiip.ac.at/publikation/the-third-eu-nato-joint-declaration-10-january-2023-was-it-worth-the-delay/
- 2023. Trapped in NATO antechamber, Kyiv eyes ‘military Marshall plan’. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/trapped-in-nato-antechamber-kyiv-eyes-military-marshall-plan-210086
- 2024. From “as long as it takes” to “as long as we can”: will the West abandon Ukraine? Oiip, Trend Report 6. https://www.oiip.ac.at/publikation/from-as-long-as-it-takes-to-as-long-as-we-can-will-the-west-abandon-ukraine/
The OSCE (see also 1)
- 2014. The OSCE Mediterranean Partnership four years after the start of the ‘Arab Spring’. The OSCE Yearbook 2014, 20. 315-337. https://ifsh.de/file-CORE/documents/yearbook/english/14/Simonet-en_S.pdf
- 2016. With H.-G. Lüber. The OSCE and its Legal Status: Revisiting the Myth of Sysiphus. OSCE Yearbook 2016, 22. 277-314. https://ifsh.de/file/publication/OSCE_Yearbook_en/2016/SimonetLüber-en.pdf
- 2017. The OSCE and NATO: Side by Side in a Turbulent World. OSCE Yearbook 2017, 23. 279-313. https://ifsh.de/file/publication/OSCE_Yearbook_en/2017/Simonet-en.pdf
- 2019. Twenty years after the Istanbul Platform for Co-operative Security: How to strengthen the OSCE’s contribution to ‘effective multilateralism’ through its cooperation with other international and regional organizations. OSCE Yearbook 2019, 25. 249-271. https://ifsh.de/file/publication/OSCE_Yearbook_en/2019/Simonet.pdf
- 2022. L’exemple des organisations internationales : le rôle de l’OSCE. In: Trigeaud L. Droits de l’homme et droit international humanitaire : quelles conséquences sur les transferts d’armements conventionnels de guerre ? Paris: Pedone. 241-247. https://pedone.info/livre/droit-de-lhomme-et-droit-international-humanitaire-quelles-consequences-sur-les-transferts-darmements-conventionnels-de-guerre/
- 2022. Thirty years of politico-military acquis and contribution to transparency and confidence-building in the Euro-Atlantic region. Study for the 30th anniversary of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC). https://www.oiip.ac.at/publikation/thirty-years-of-politico-military-acquis-and-contribution-to-transparency-and-confidence-building-in-the-euro-atlantic-region/
- 2024. The OSCE in Zeitenwende: How to keep the Organization on the radar screen? Oiip, Trend Report 4. https://www.oiip.ac.at/publikation/the-osce-in-zeitenwende-how-to-keep-the-organization-on-the-radar-screen/
- 2024. The UN Summit of the Future (September 2024): Which opportunities for the OSCE? Oiip, Working Paper. https://www.oiip.ac.at/publikation/the-un-summit-of-the-future-september-2024-which-opportunities-for-the-osce/
Oil and Gas Pipelines Law & Geopolitics
- 2005, with P. Laffont. La Charte de l’énergie et le transit des matières premières : trop loin ? Trop tôt ? Annuaire Français de Droit international, LI. 524-541. https://www.persee.fr/doc/afdi_0066-3085_2005_num_51_1_3896
- 2006. Pipelines in Geopolitics and in International Relations. Oil, Gas & Energy Law Intelligence, 5(4). https://www.ogel.org/article.asp?key=2293
- 2006. L’impact du terrorisme sur la sécurité des pipelines internationaux. Défense nationale, March. 75-88. https://www.defnat.com/e-RDN/vue-article.php?carticle=3848
- 2006. L’oléoduc Bakou-Tbilissi-Ceyhan : les défis d’une canalisation stratégique. Revue française de géopolitique, 4. 79-88.
- 2006. Retour sur la rupture entre le Tchad et la Banque mondiale : ne nous trompons pas de responsable. Etudes internationales, XXXVII(4). 597-615. https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/ei/2006-v37-n4-ei1621/014631ar/#:~:text=La%20Banque%20mondiale%20n’a,beaucoup%20à%20la%20situation%20actuelle.
- 2007. Oléoducs et gazoducs chinois à l’aube du 21ème siècle : les vecteurs d’une diplomatie de l’énergie. Monde chinois, 9, Winter 2006-2007. 25-37.
- 2007. Les pipelines internationaux, vecteurs de prospérité, de puissance et de rivalités. Oléoducs et gazoducs dans la géopolitique et les relations internationales. La Revue Internationale et Stratégique, 65, Spring 2007. 51-62. https://shs.cairn.info/revue-internationale-et-strategique-2007-1-page-51?lang=fr
- 2007, with A.-C. Poirson. L’OTAN et l’ONU, nouveaux acteurs de la sécurité énergétique? Diplomatie, 28, Sept.-Oct. 2007. 47-52.
- 2009. L’OTAN et la protection des infrastructures énergétiques : jusqu’où engager l’Alliance ? La Revue internationale et stratégique, 72, Winter 2008/2009. 72-81. https://shs.cairn.info/revue-internationale-et-strategique-2008-4-page-73?lang=fr.
- 2009. Le gazoduc Nord Stream et la mer Baltique : le droit international au service de la protection d’un espace sensible. Annuaire du droit de la mer, XIII. 81-95.
- 2010. L’Europe et l’intégration des réseaux gaziers : vers la communauté de l’énergie. Revue des Affaires Européennes, 4. 821-830.
- 2011. Les pipelines dans la tourmente égyptienne. Oil, Gas & Energy Law Intelligence, 9,(3). https://www.ogel.org/article.asp?key=3117.
- 2011. Nabucco dix ans après: Ambitions et fragilités d’un projet européen. Oil, Gas & Energy Law Intelligence, 9(3). https://www.ogel.org/article.asp?key=3134
- 2011. The Chad-Cameroon Export Project and the Bakola Pygmies. Oil, Gas & Energy Law Intelligence, 9(4). https://www.ogel.org/article.asp?key=3147
- 2011. Mise en service du gazoduc Nord Stream : Une nouvelle voie pour le gaz russe vers l’Europe. Revue de l’Energie, 603, Oct.- Nov. 2011. 309-313.
- Looking for an Energy Community Through an International Legal Instrument: Mission Impossible? Oil, Gas & Energy Law Intelligence, 10(3). https://www.ogel.org/article.asp?key=3271
- 2012. Les institutions paneuropéennes en matière d’énergie et les projets de gazoducs transeuropéens. In : Claude BLUMANN (Ed.). Vers une politique européenne de l’énergie, Bruxelles : Bruylant. 225-237. https://www.libeurop.eu/fr_FR/shop/product/9782802735908-vers-une-politique-europeenne-de-l-energie-588259
- 2013. Le Printemps arabe et la nouvelle donne de l’énergie. Géoéconomie, 66, Aug-Sept.-Oct. 2013. 189-206. https://shs.cairn.info/revue-geoeconomie-2013-3-page-189?lang=fr
- 2014. La crise du gaz de 2014 entre l’Ukraine et la Russie : beaucoup de bruit pour rien ? Géoéconomie, 71, Aug.-Sept.-Oct. 2014. 95-118. https://shs.cairn.info/revue-geoeconomie-2014-4-page-95?lang=fr
- 2015. Les hydrocarbures du Kurdistan irakien, au cœur de l’imbroglio régional. Géoéconomie, 74, March-April 2015. 151-168. https://shs.cairn.info/revue-geoeconomie-2015-2-page-151?lang=fr
- 2017. Les hydrocarbures de l’Arctique : Eldorado ou chimère ? Géoéconomie, 82, April. 75-98. https://shs.cairn.info/revue-geoeconomie-2016-5-page-73?lang=fr
- 2021. Les pipelines et le droit international. Revue de l’Energie, 656, May-June. 13-17. https://www.larevuedelenergie.com/les-pipelines-et-le-droit-international/
- 2021. Les pipelines en droit international et dans les relations internationales. Paris: Pedone.- 359 p. https://pedone.info/livre/les-pipelines-en-droit-international-et-dans-les-relations-internationales/
- 2021. L’affaire Nord Stream 2 laissera de profondes rancœurs à l’heure où l’UE et l’OTAN se penchent sur leur stratégie. Le Monde, 14 Sept. 2021. 29. https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2021/09/13/l-affaire-nord-stream-2-laissera-de-profondes-ranc-urs-a-l-heure-ou-l-ue-et-l-otan-se-penchent-sur-leur-positionnement-strategique_6094439_3232.html
Other topics
- 2023. Human Rights in a multi-aligned world: how to counter challenging narratives and restore universalism. Oiip, Study commissioned by the Austrian Ministry for European and International Affairs. https://www.oiip.ac.at/publikation/human-rights-in-a-multi-aligned-world-how-to-counter-challenging-narratives-and-restore-universalism-2/
- 2024. Bruno Kreisky and the Two-State Solution. Reflections, 1.16-17. https://oiip.ac.at/cms/media/magazin-final.pdf
- 2024. Happy election year! Oiip, Trend Report 7. https://www.oiip.ac.at/publikation/happy-election-year/
All posts by Dr. Loïc Simonet